Chapter 16 - Monopolistic Competition and Product Differentiation

Econ 101: Principles of Microeconomics Chapter 16 - Monopolistic Competition and Product Differentiation

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Ch. 16 Monopolistic Competition

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Outline

1

What is Monopolistic Competition

2

Firm Behavior in a Monopolistically Competitive Industry Behavior in the Short Run Behavior in the Long Run

3

Monopolistic Competition versus Perfect Competition

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Monopolistic Competition

A monopolistically competitive market has three fundamental characteristics 1 2 3

Many buyers and sellers Sellers offer a differentiated product Sellers can easily enter or exit the market

We look at each of these characteristics in turn . . . but first consider some examples of monopolistic competition

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Example Industries

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Characteristic #1: Many Buyers and Sellers Under monopolistic competition, an individual buyer is still assumed to be a price-taker. . . . but an individual seller, in spite of having many competitors, decides what price to charge - Unlike in the case of the perfectly competitive market, the firm is able to raise its price and not (necessarily) loose all its customers. - This is largely because the products sold by other firms are not viewed as perfect substitutes. - The firm is still constrained by consumer demand for its product.

The assumption of many sellers, however, has another purpose - To ensure that no strategic games will be played among firms in market - There are so many firms, each supplying such a small part of the market, that no one of them needs to worry that its actions will be noticed–and reacted to–by others - Restaurants (in a larger city) are a good example of this

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Characteristic #2: Sellers Offer a Differentiated Product Each seller produces a somewhat different product from the others The implication of this is that each firm faces its own, downward-sloping demand curve In this sense, firms in this industry type are more like a monopolist than a perfect competitor - When it raises its price a modest amount, quantity demanded will decline (but not all the way to zero)

Advertising plays a key role in this type of industry, whereas it is irrelevant in either perfectly competitive or monopolistic markets For the perfectly competitive firm, there is no use, given their product is standardized For the monopoly, there is no need, except perhaps to protect their monopoly power

Advertising is all too common among firms in between these extremes (roughly a $45 billion dollar industry) Herriges (ISU)


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Product Differentiation There are three basic types of product differentiation: 1

Differentiation by Style or Type: Here the products differ due to differences in function or form. There are numerous examples: Vehicle types (SUV’s vs. trucks vs. sedans, etc.) Restaurant types (Mexican vs. Chinese vs. French, etc.) Clothing stores (GAP vs. American Eagle vs. Abercrombie and Fitch. etc.)

2

Differentiation by Location: Retailers often attempt to “capture” a portion of the market by strategically locating - Gasoline stations and hotels locate near the interstate - Starbucks locates everywhere.

3

Differentiation by Quality: This is really a special case of the first type of differentiation. - Gasoline stations try to convince you that their gas makes your car run better. - Pizza firms try to convince you they use better ingredients.

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More on Product Differentiation

Product differentiation is a subjective matter A product is different whenever people think that it is - Whether their perception is accurate or not Bleach is a good example Bottle water is another

Thus, whenever a firm (that is not a monopoly) faces a downward-sloping demand curve, we know buyers perceive its product as differentiated This perception may be real or illusory, but economic implications are the same in either case: Firm chooses its price

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Characteristic #3: Free Entry and Exit

This feature is shared by monopolistic competition and perfect competition It plays the same role in both market types; i.e., it ensures firms earn zero economic profit in long-run In monopolistic competition, however, assumption about easy entry goes further - No barrier stops any firm from copying the successful business of other firms - Think of recent efforts by McDonalds and Duncan Donuts to compete with Starbucks or more regional coffee shops such a Caribou Coffee

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Firm Behavior in a Monopolistically Competitive Industry

Firm Behavior in a Monopolistically Competitive Industry A monopolistically competitive industry shares attributes of both the purely competitive industry and the monopoly. Like the monopoly, firms in this industry face their own downwardly sloping demand curve - For these firms, MR 6= P. - Indeed, in the short-run, firms in this type of industry will behave exactly like a monopoly. - That doesn’t mean they faces no competition or that the competitors don’t matter. - Indeed, the demand for its product will depend upon the pricing of other firms in the industry and the extent to which its competitors’s goods are close substitutes.

Like the perfectly competitive industry, however, firms in this market also face competition in the long-run. . . . driving economic profits to zero. Herriges (ISU)


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Behavior in the Short Run

Short-Run Behavior In the short-run, the firm can earn a profit, just like a monopoly

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Behavior in the Short Run

Short-Run Behavior In the short-run, the firm can also suffer a loss, just like a monopoly

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Behavior in the Long Run

Monopolistic Competition in the Long-Run

The distinction between a monopoly and monopolistic competition occurs in the long-run. For the latter, 1

If economic profits exist in the short-run, firms will enter the industry driving demand for existing firms down entry will continue until economic profits are driven to zero.

2

If economic losses exist in the short-run, firms will exit the industry driving demand for remaining firms up exit will continue until economic profits are driven to zero.

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Behavior in the Long Run

Long-Run Behavior

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Monopolistic Competition Versus Perfect Competition The long run equilibrium for Monopolistic Competition is, in many ways, similar to that of Perfect Competition.In both cases - there are many firms - economic profits are driven to zero

However, these two markets differ in two key ways.For Monopolistic Competition: - P 6= MC , whereas for perfect competition P = MC This gap between P and MC for monopolistic competitor reflects the fact that they face a downward sloping demand curve (i.e., P 6= MR). It is also their motivation for advertising - to draw in more customers.

- Firms do not operate at minimum ATC under Monopolistic Competition, whereas they do under perfect competition. This is sometimes described as excess capacity While some argue that this is a source of inefficiency in this market structure. . . . . . the tradeoff is that this industry type provides diversity that is desired by consumers. Herriges (ISU)


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Nonprice Competition If monopolistic competitor wants to increase its output it can cut its price - . . . moving along its demand curve

Any action a firm takes to increase demand for its output–other than cutting its price–is called nonprice competition Examples include -

better service, product guarantees, free home delivery, more attractive packaging, etc.,

Nonprice competition is another reason why monopolistic competitors earn zero economic profit in long-run - All this nonprice competition is costly - The firm must pay for advertising, for product guarantees, for better staff training - These costs must be included in each firms ATC curve, shifting it upward Herriges (ISU)


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Monopolistic Competition and the Role of Advertising

A monopolistic competitor advertises for two reasons 1

2

To shift its demand curve rightward (greater quantity demanded at each price) To make demand for its output less elastic This allows it to raise price and suffer a smaller decrease in quantity demanded

Advertising clearly raises costs in the industry However, it need not raise price.

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Advertising Increasing Price

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